Untroubled Trouble

[Rose Holland]

Rose was so so so SO excited about tonight. She was FINALLY going on a night adventure with both Harley and Rory, and she had been jumping around in excitement all evening. They had to wait until it was late enough so they could sneak out without any prefects stopping them in the Common Room, but now it was finally time! Rory was Rose's best friend, but she still didn't know Harley as well as she wanted to. Harley was also Rory's friend, which must mean she was awesome. She had really appreciated Rose's scarf, which was nice. And now they were going to do... well. Something.

After leaving behind the Common Room, the three girls were sneaking through the seventh floor corridor. It was then that Rose realized they hadn't really made a plan beforehand. She could almost hear Phoebe chastising her in her mind. Always plan ahead! That's what her sister would have said if she were here. And she would have joined them if they had been in the same house, but unfortunately she wasn't. Rose would have liked to introduce her to Rory and Harley. She had no doubt that they would all get along if they ever got to meet. But for now she had to think of a plan. "Okay, so." She said, turning to the other two girls with a smile. "I know you do this a lot, Rory, but I've never sneaked into the kitchens. Let's do that!" She paused. "Or the forest, but that would mean we have to sneak all the way outside without being caught. I'm not sure if we're that good." She shrugged, her hair falling over her shoulders. "Or we could go try to see if we can find the Ravenclaw Common Room and we could get my sister." That sounded like an adventure. "What do you guys think?" She looked between the other two girls, eager to hear their suggestions. Rose liked coming up with ideas, but she was always open for other suggestions too.

 

[Harley Tsuji]

Harley was thrilled. Thrilled to be sneaking out, thrilled to be doing something fun for the first time since the flyers, thrilled to be spending time with Rory, and getting to know Rose better. She and Rose had only connected vaguely during first year, but after she had believed Harley through all of Odette's nonsense, and even been thoughtful enough to make her such an awesome present over the holidays, Harley was more than excited to get to know her roommate better. Rory and Hayley were both amazing friends, but the more the merrier, and anyone who was as excited as Rose had been about an illicit excursion through the school at night sounded like a fun friend to have around.

Harley's thoughts were interrupted by Rose turning to address the pair of them. The options she was proposing sounded fun, but Harley had been sure she and Rory had plans. Hadn't Rory told Rose? Harley glanced at her friend before replying. "Well, Rory and I had actually talked about going up into the towers, see how high up we can get. Neither of us have really explored the towers much yet. Plus, we're so far from the cities, I bet the stars look incredible this time of night."

 

[Aurora Night]

Rory already knew that tonight was going to be amazing. It was a whole new year, and she was totally ready to be out doing fun things with her friends again - particularly with both of her best friends. She knew Rose and Harley hadn't spent much time together yet, and in her opinion there was clearly no better way to cement the bonds of friendship than by breaking rules. She knew the other girls would get along, now it was just a matter of having the best time possible while doing so. And exploring the castle at night sounded like a pretty good way to do it, which was mostly just due to the fact that it was something Rory hadn't quite got around to doing yet. Trying to explore by yourself was just lame, so when Harley had asked her she hadn't been able to do anything else but agree.

Rory was glad that Harley had corrected Rose about the nature of their plans, as she herself had been busy attempting to stifle a groan at her friend's suggestion. "Yeah Rose, I've been down to the kitchens like a million times" It certainly felt like that many times, anyway. Pleased that their plans were settled, Rory turned to head off in the direction she wanted to explore first. "Come on, the towers will be fun - you like the stars don't you?" She vaguely assumed this because of the stargazing session they'd had during Astronomy last year - Rose had spent the entire time with her eyes glued to telescope, which had resulted in an extremely boring lesson for Rory. Speaking to both Harley and Rose now, she said, "We go up the Astronomy Tower all the time for class, so I say we should try one of the other ones." She couldn't wait to get started, this was going to be great.

 

[Rose Holland]

Rose was eager to hear Harley's suggestion, but her face fell when she heard what it was. The towers? No way! Astronomy class was bad enough, she didn't want to go there at night without supervision. They could fall off and DIE. She shook her head at once, her eyes going wide at the idea. "What? No. I don't want to go to a tower." She said at once, giving Rory a horrified look as well. "I mean, I haven't been to the kitchens yet. If you know it that well, why don't you show me around?" She said, nudging her friend and trying to smile casually. "The towers would be booooring. We can see stars anytime from anywhere at night!" She looked between her two friends somewhat desperately. "We could... we could go outside if you want stars." She had no idea why Rory thought she liked stars. She had never really thought they were anything special. Rose figured she liked stars as much as any other person liked them. "Or ... or we could go to the dungeons!" Rose couldn't think of a good reason to go there, but she wanted to go as far away from the towers as she could.

 

[Harley Tsuji]

A slight frown wrinkled Harley's brow, and she folded her arms. "Why are you so against the towers?" She asked, looking at Rose directly. If she didn't know Rose was a Gryffindor, she might think the other girl actually sounded scared, but she had been so enthusiastic about their adventure just moments ago. It was a mystery. Sighing, Harley shrugged. "Look, I don't actually care that much. If you're so against the towers we can go down to the kitchens, or go outside, or whatever. I just wanna get out and do something fun, I don't care where."

 

[Aurora Night]

Rory couldn't help but feel annoyed at Rose's insistence that exploring one of the towers wouldn't be any fun. She'd been looking forward to this ever since she and Harley had first discussed their plans, and having Rose tell her now that the idea was boring was just insulting - particularly considering the lame suggestion she had offered up instead. Rory huffed. "Hey, I'd totally show you around, except I'm sick of going down there all the time." Usually she would have been quite happy to do whatever the others wanted, but just the thought of the kitchens was making her feel like she was slowly morphing into a stop sign. Sorry, turn back. No entry here. Seriously, cease and desist. The more she thought about it, the more Rory's discontent rose, and she suddenly convinced herself that no other plan for tonight's exploration would do. It was to be the towers or nothing - and luckily Rose's habit of not thinking her ideas through left an opening for Rory to try and convince Harley to back her up. "Besides, everywhere you want to go means sneaking down a whole seven floors. If a Professor catches us, we won't even get to do anything!"

 

[Rose Holland]

Rose felt herself freeze up when Harley just asked her directly what she had against the towers. She supposed she had been a bit obvious, but she still hoped that she could get away with not telling them. Harley was so tough, she wouldn't ever understand and she would think Rose was a wimp. Then she wouldn't be asked to come along next time. So it was a relief when Harley admitted she didn't care that much, maybe she could steer them away from the towers with Harley at her back.

But she had forgotten Rory, who's middle name might as well be 'stubborn'. She practically snapped at Rose for suggesting something else, and Rose felt her own temper rise. She wasn't easy to get angry, but she felt like she was driven into a corner. If they went up to the towers now, they would probably go close to the edge and act dangerously and Rose would probably start crying. She didn't WANT that, why couldn't Rory just listen to her for once? "Then we find something else closer!" She snapped back. "I don't care, but not the stupid towers. We have SEEN the towers at night during astronomy, what sort of adventure is it to go somewhere we've already been!?" She snorted and crossed her arms. "Sure, we can go look at another tower, because I'm sure they are all very different and unique and not alike at all." She said sarcastically as she put her hands on her hips. "You just don't want to admit your whole plan is boring."

 

[Harley Tsuji]

Harley was a little startled when Rory began to get a little more aggressive in her defense of the tower plan, but the outburst from Rose actually blindsided her entirely. She couldn't remember ever having seen her roommate upset or angry before, but this was clearly upsetting her pretty deeply, and the amount of noise she was making was worrying. "Hey!" Harley whispered, stepping between them and holding a hand up to each. Was this all she did now, just break up fights between her friends? "Shut up, someone's gonna hear us if you keep carrying on like that!" She whispered. "Look, this isn't important, Rory, we can go up to the towers another time, and Rose, we can go down to the kitchens during the day when it's not such a risk. Right NOW let's just... explore this floor, I'm sure there's something good here, and let's NOT do it while yelling at the top of our lungs, unless you want to spend as much of this year in detention as last!" Harley kept glancing between the two of them with warning in her eyes as she whispered furiously, all the time terrified there was a teacher sneaking around the next corner.

 

[Aurora Night]

For a moment, Rory almost couldn't believe what she was hearing. Was Rose... yelling at her? She'd never heard her friend raise her voice in such an angry tone ever, and was at a loss for words as the other girl continued to spew her opinions forth. Why was she getting so up in arms over this? Given space to think for a moment, Rory almost chased down the thought that maybe Rose had a proper reason for being so against the towers - until she once again made a jab about the plan was boring. "If it was so boring," Rory drew out the word contemptuously, "then why the heck did you want to come? You might as well climb back through the portrait hole right now." She stopped there, however, because Harley had gotten in between them, trying to calm them both down. Annoying as it was that Harley didn't seem to be backing her up over their original idea, Rory just couldn't bring herself to snap at her too. Rose was supposed to be her friend, why was she making this so impossible? They were supposed to be having fun - instead Rory just felt like she was getting a headache.

 

[Professor Matt Alcott-Ward]

Matt was halfway through his patrol, already daydreaming of the comfortable bed waiting for him in his chambers. So far, he'd never run across wayward students at night during his patrols. He had heard some of his colleagues discuss the issue, but he hadn't encountered it himself yet.

That was, until he heard three girl's voices that seemed to be arguing. He quirked an eyebrow and headed in the direction of the sound, his pace casual and his hands in his pockets. When he turned the corner he saw he had heard correctly, there were three girls and they were definitely arguing. The first thing he noticed was that his daughter wasn't with them, that was a relief at least. These girls looked slightly older, though he didn't know for certain they weren't first years. The topic of their discussion seemed to be deciding what the purpose of their little excursion would be. He wasn't sure why they were doing this, it seemed a lot more logical to him to think of a plan ahead of time. Either way, the party would be over before it started.

Matt cleared his throat to catch the girls' attention, giving them a smile. "Actually, climbing through the portrait hole is something you should have considered, it would have saved you some trouble." He crossed his arms and raised one eyebrow slightly. "So, ladies," he said, looking at them each in turn. "Which one of you has the most creative excuse for being out of bed after curfew?"

 

[Rose Holland]

Rose felt her anger fade as quickly as it had built, and she felt a little embarrassed as Harley called them both out for the noise they were making. Harley had a point, and Rose nodded hesitantly. "Let's explore this floor, yes." She said eagerly. It was still very high up but she would just stay away from the windows, at least she was fairly sure she wasn't going to cry. Rose hadn't actually spent much time in detention last year, but she didn't really want to find out what it was like.

But Rory didn't seem to calm down as easily, and Rose sighed as she kept being angry at her. "I wanted to come because I thought we would be doing something else, not the stupid towers." She told Rory evenly, her own outburst already forgotten. "So, this floor then. I like Harley's idea."

But before they could take a single step, a voice interrupted. Definitely an adult, and with one glance she decided it was definitely a professor. He was unfamiliar to her, but at least he didn't seem mad. Rose wasn't as disappointed as being caught as she had expected, at least Rory would hopefully forget to be mad at her now. "Oh, um." She said, trying to think of a good reason quickly. "Harley here wasn't uh... feeling well, right Harley? So we were taking her to the nurse. Harley wanted Rory to go with her but Rory is scared of the dark so she asked me to come too!" She said, making it up as she went along and trying to look completely innocent, though she wasn't that convincing. Rose had never been much of a liar.

 

[Harley Tsuji]

Harley's relief at her plan seemingly being accepted was short-lived beyond belief. Before she had even opened her mouth to ponder which direction they should start exploring, the fun was cut short by the sudden intrusion of a Professor's voice. Oh damn. Harley glanced around, but there didn't seem to be any direction she'd be able to take off running and avoid capture, and even if she could, Harley didn't want to leave Rory and Rose alone to catch all the flak.

Luckily, Rose was thinking a lot quicker than she was tonight. Nodding in earnest agreement, Harley wrapped her arms around her stomach and doubled over slightly, leaning on Rory. "It hurts sooo bad, I don't know what happened! I was fine at dinner and now my whole stomach won't stop aching!" She whined, looking up at the teacher with pleading eyes, hoping the excuse would be enough for him to allow them to pass unpunished.

 

[Aurora Night]

Rory couldn't help rolling her eyes as Rose explained why she had come along. Of course, she hadn't been listening - it all made perfect sense now. In the spirit of no more arguing, Rory supposed she could go along with the new plan that seemed to meet Rose's high and mighty approval, even though it was much more boring than their original idea - although, could she stop calling the towers stupid already? Seriously. She'd already made it quite clear that she didn't want to go up there, she didn't need to keep going on about it. Remembering for a second the thought that had escaped her earlier, Rory scrutinised her friend. "Rose, why - "

But the thought disappeared completely this time at the sudden appearance of a professor, and internally Rory groaned. This night had now completely gone from bad to worse - maybe she would take her own advice and just call the whole thing a wash. Surely if they started walking back to the common room the man wouldn't be able to do anything about it - the castle was here every night, obviously, they could just try again another time. She was about to put her plan into action, when suddenly Rose started making up some story that caused Rory to wince just listening to. Why had her friend said that she was afraid of the dark? There was no chance the professor was going to believe it, how on earth were you supposed to pretend something like that? She had no choice though, because Harley had just leaned on her, causing Rory to sway slightly under the unexpected contact. "Yeah sir, we're really worried about her, and I'm... I..." she gestured vaguely at the darkness around them, choosing to duck her head rather than terribly feign some expression of terror. "Please Professor, it could be something really serious!" She didn't know if Rose's story was going to work, but she couldn't let the other two down now that they had committed to it.

 

[Professor Matt Alcott-Ward]

Matt was honestly glad he had overheard the girls' discussion from earlier, because if he hadn't he might actually have bought this trick. He was a little impressed by their ability to think on the spot, but he wouldn't let them know that. He chuckled, watching their performance. "Well, I have to say that that was almost believable, girls." He told them with a shake of his head. "Unfortunately, your voices carry more than you think. I could hear you discuss your plans from the start of the hallway. So I heard all about your discussion of where to go exploring at night, which makes it hard for me to believe you're really not feeling well, though I would be happy to escort you and you alone to the nurse if it really is that serious." He gestured to where he came from to indicate where he had heard their voices. "Between you and me, this is my first time catching students out of bed. What sort of punishment seems fair?" He tapped his chin. "What about twenty points from Gryffindor? That would be around seven each. That is, if you turn around and go back to your Common Room right now." He nodded at Harley. "You might want to think about a career in acting, Miss...?" He didn't know her name, only her first name which her friend had said, but he didn't feel it was proper to address her that way. "I'm Professor Ward, if you tell me your names it would make it easier for me to address you the next time this happens." He was sure this wouldn't be the last time these three got into trouble.

 

[Rose Holland]

Rose was happy that Harley played along so convincingly. On her own, she never would have been able to sell the story. Rose was infamous at home for being unable to lie to her parents, and Phoebe was usually the one to make up stories to tell their parents. She made a show of looking worried and patting Harley's arm as she acted like her stomach hurt. Even Rory went along with it, and Rose almost laughed at how she pretended to be afraid of the dark. Instead, she looked away to avoid giggles.

It seemed like it was for nothing, though. The professor wasn't fooled at all to Rose's dismay. She instantly dropped the act, almost relieved to be caught and sent back to bed. At least Rory might be angrier at the professor than she was at Rose. He seemed nice too, for a professor. She sighed when he asked their names, she wasn't too upset about the points. Seven wasn't too bad, right? "I'm Rose Holland." She muttered, glancing at the other two to see what they would do.

 

[Harley Tsuji]

Harley's face fell as soon as she realised the professor wasn't buying it. Damn, had they really been that loud? Biting her lip, she looked around for other excuses, but nothing sprang to mind. They were losing points no matter what, it seemed. What a pain. She had broken her own personal record for longest time since getting in trouble, and it was frustrating getting caught now, for such a minor misdeed. The professor was even joking about it, which boiled her blood. Harley couldn't stand teachers getting a laugh out of ruining her fun. When he asked for her name it made up her mind, and Harley took a step back. "MissED ME!" She yelled in response, and took off running back towards the common room. She knew he would probably use magic to stop her, this tactic had worked much better at her muggle school, but she couldn't stand it any longer, standing around listening to a smug adult talk about how funny it was that her fun was over.

 

[Aurora Night]

Rory wasn't too surprised to hear that the professor hadn't bought it, and wasn't in any way cut up about losing house points. Actually she was kind of glad about it - it was kind of silly to still feel weirded out by gaining a few right at the start of the year without meaning to, but she was. At least this way she could feel like she'd earned her way back onto the proper side of things. Although she didn't actually have any fun memories to show for the lost points, so that was kind of annoying. Surprised that Rose gave the professor her real name, Rory was about to tell him that she was 'Odette Harper,' when Harley suddenly took off. Grinning, Rory reacted immediately, unlike the last time her friend had done this to her. Reaching out to try and grab Rose's arm as she dashed past, Rory yelled, "Come on!" If this was Professor Ward's first time catching students they should at least make him work for it, she thought, grinning.

 

[Rose Holland]

Rose watched in bemusement as Harley yelled and ran off. She wondered why she hadn't thought of that, but at the same time she figured that when you were caught you were caught. It did no good to run or talk back to professors, that just got you into more trouble. It wasn't a surprise that Rory did the same, and though she tried to get Rose to run too, she didn't. She watched as her two best friends ran away from her, feeling slightly abandoned even though she had chosen to stay. It hadn't occurred to her now that she was alone with the professor, who could choose to punish her more because he at least knew her name. Or worse: ask her to betray her friends. She looked up at him with wide eyes, hoping it would work like it worked on her parents sometimes.

 

[Professor Matt Alcott-Ward]

Matt had to bite back a curse as two of the girls he had caught ran away from him. He had not seen that coming. As a kid he had feared professors, or at the very least the punishment they could give out, but it seemed like these girls didn't. At least they were heading back to the common room where they belonged, so after hesitating for a moment he let them go. One girl had stayed, and she was looking up at him with the biggest eyes he had ever seen. With a sigh, he ran a hand through his hair. "Alright, Rose. You were honest, and I won't ask you to tell me who your friends are since I'm sure I'll figure that out soon enough." He thought for a moment and then gestured for her to move along. "Tell your friends that they each lose ten points for their house. Once... I figure out who they are." He shook his head. "You lose seven." He waved her on. "Go on." He watched the girl nod and leave too, feeling like his first time catching students out of bed was sort of a failure. Hopefully he would do better next time, but at least none of the other professors had seen him.